Eternal Legacy is an American heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band that formed in 2002 in Parma, Ohio

Parma, Ohio

Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is the largest suburb of Cleveland and the seventh largest city in the state of Ohio...

. Founded by vocalist/guitarist brothers Jason and Shaun Vanek with Steve Dukuslow on drums, the band soon recruited classically trained fourteen-year-old Spencer Phillips to play keyboards and Shaun's student Josh Gatka on bass. In 2008, Gatka was fired from the band, after which Phillips filled the bass spot in addition to keyboards. In 2009, Phillips left the band to pursue higher education and has since been replaced by Shaun Vanek's Wretch

Wretch

Wretch may refer to:*Wretch , an album by Kyuss*Wretch , a Taiwanese web log community.*Wretch, a song from the Protest the Hero album Fortress...

 bandmate, Tim Frederick.

Eternal Legacy's style started off as progressive power metal

Power metal

Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...

, but has since progressed into a hybrid sound with elements of thrash metal

Thrash

Thrash may refer to:*Thrashing , where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work*Thrash , mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers-Music:*Thrash metal, a subgenre of heavy metal music...

, resembling bands such as Tad Morose

Tad Morose

Tad Morose is a Swedish progressive / power metal band formed in 1991 and led by guitarist Christer 'Krunt' Andersson.-Biography:Their full-length debut was Leaving the Past Behind, a minor hit that established the band within the continental European heavy metal community. Sender of Thoughts was...

, Iced Earth

Iced Earth

Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band from Tampa, Florida. Originally formed under the name "Purgatory" in 1984, Iced Earth has released a total of ten studio albums, one live album, three EP's, two compilations and boxsets...

, Metal Church

Metal Church

Metal Church was an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in Seattle, Washington as Shrapnel in 1980. Their first album was released in 1984, and the band's most recent work, This Present Wasteland, was released in 2008....

, Human Fortress

Human Fortress

Human Fortress is a power metal band that strives for an epic feel with their music, calling their music "epic battle metal." The band is from Hannover, Germany.- Biography :...

, and Brainstorm

Brainstorm

Brainstorm generally refers to brainstorming, a group or individual creativity exercise.Brainstorm may also refer to:-Film:* Brainstorm , directed by Douglas Trumbull* Brainstorm , directed by William Conrad...

. In 2007, Eternal Legacy released The Coming of the Tempest, their debut album. At the end of 2009, the band released their sophomore effort titled Lifeless Alive. On January 26, the band announced the title of their third album as Seeking No Peace, to be tentatively released near the end of 2010.
In March 2010, Eternal Legacy announced that they had now finished the drum tracks for nine new songs for their new album due for release in the summer.

Eternal Legacy is scheduled to play the 2010 Wacken Open Air

Wacken Open Air

Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...

 festival.

Origin and Formation

The roots of Eternal Legacy lie in the band Mercinary, a heavy metal group of young, like-minded musicians from Parma, Ohio. The group was composed of brothers Shaun and Jason Vanek on guitars, drummer Steve Dukuslow, Nicholas Crow on vocals, and Ian Savage on bass, of which three would go on to remain consistent members of the band today. At this time, almost all of the members were in high school, with youngest member Shaun Vanek being around fourteen or fifteen years of age. Initially, the lineup would see Crow on drums, but would switch to Dukuslow when he and Shaun reconnected while attending Normandy High School. Crow switched to the vocalist position, forming the predominant lineup during Mercinary's lifespan.

In this incarnation, the band played primarily straight forward, guitar-centric heavy metal, inspired by bands like Iced Earth

Iced Earth

Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band from Tampa, Florida. Originally formed under the name "Purgatory" in 1984, Iced Earth has released a total of ten studio albums, one live album, three EP's, two compilations and boxsets...

, Pantera

Pantera

Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...

, Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

, and Metallica

Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

. Structurally, the songs were basic with a strong emphasis on the riff and high-register vocals. Current Eternal Legacy songs "Shadow of Revolution","Metal Anvil", and "Misery's End," as well as several other song elements, would originate during the band's time as Mercinary.

After a falling out with Crow and a series of awkward vocalist tryouts, Jason Vanek opted to step up to the plate and perform double duty on rhythm guitar and vocals, subsequently leading to the formation of Eternal Legacy proper.

Self-titled EP and Early Demos (2002 - 2004)

After taking on the moniker Eternal Legacy, the band would change their sound to incorporate the use of keyboards and other neoclassical elements. This would mark a switch in sound from the traditional heavy metal of the Mercinary days to a more progressive power metal approach in the vein of bands like Symphony X

Symphony X

Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey.Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums The Divine Wings of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community...

, Rhapsody

Rhapsody of Fire

Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band led by Alex Staropoli. Since forming in 1993, the band has released eight studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and a live DVD...

 and Pagan's Mind

Pagan's Mind

-Biography:Founded in 2000 from the band Silverspoon by Nils K. Rue, Thorstein Aaby, and Stian Kristoffersen. Pagan's Mind released their first album, Infinity Divine, that same year. The following album, Celestial Entrance, was released in 2002 and was a relatively big success even outside of...

. This period would see the band replace Mercinary-bassist Ian Savage with Joe Grandinetti and recruit virtuoso pianist Thomas Birkel for keyboard duties. The band would compile several demos, ultimately culminating in the release of their self-titled EP (sometimes known as the "I" EP) in 2004. The songs "Fires Wrath", "Realm of Wind and Ice" (then split up into two parts), "Into the Afterworld" and "One Last Hope" would make it on the band's first full-length release.

Discography

Year	Release	Type	Label
2004	Eternal Legacy	EP	Self-released
2007	The Coming of the Tempest	Full-length	Auburn Records
2009	Lifeless Alive	Full-length	Auburn Records
2011	Seeking No Peace	Full-length	TBD